Today in History: Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Series finales: The original “Perry Mason,” starring Raymond Burr on CBS in 1966; “Hart to Hart,“ starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers, in 1984; CBS sitcom “Kate & Allie,“ with Susan St. James and Jane Curtin in 1989; NBC Saturday morning sitcom “Saved By the Bell” in 1993; NBC sitcom “Blossom,“ featuring Mayim Bialik, in 1995; and NBC’s “Third Rock From the Sun” in 2001.

Singer Helen Reddy’s first primetime special aired on ABC in 1979. Jane Fonda and Elliot Gould were the guests…Remember when Cher called David Letterman an “asshole”? It happened in 1986 when she was a guest on his late night NBC talker. For a look, click here…Johnny Carson ended his run as host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in 1992…ABC aired the “Laverne & Shirley” 20th Anniversary special in 1995.

Rick Schroeder exited ABC’s “NYPD Blue” in 2001. Mark-Paul Gosselaar joined the cast the following fall.

Movies:
“A View to a Kill,” the 14th “James Bond” film and the last to star Roger Moore, opened in San Francisco in 1985. It also starred Grace Jones and Christopher Walken…The original “Mission: Impossible,” starring Tom Cruise and based on the CBS series of the same name, opened in 1996…Other movie openings: “Bustin’ Loose,“ with Richard Pryor and Cicely Tyson, in 1981; “Alien 3,“ with Sigourney Weaver, in 1992.

Songs:
“Silly Love Songs,” by Wings, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 100 list in 1976.

News:
In 1980, Namco introduced the video arcade game Pac-Man.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Actor Richard Benjamin (“He & She”) is 86; “Movin’ On” star Frank Converse is also 86; actress Barbara Parkins (“Valley of the Dolls” is 82; songwriter Bernie Taupin is 74; Al Corley, the first Steven Carrington on the original “Dynasty,” is 68; model Naomi Campbell is 54; “Once Upon a Time” star Ginnifer Goodwin is 46; actress Maggie Q (“Nikita”) is 45.

Did You Know?:
The first reboot of “Perry Mason” was on CBS with Monte Markham in the title role in the fall on 1973. It produced only 15 episodes. The latest, with Matthew Rhys as the famous TV lawyer, aired for two seasons on HBO…Matthew Fox found his second regularly scheduled series success after “Party of Five” on “Lost,“ of course. But the original plan for his character, Jack Shephard, was to be killed by the monster in the pilot episode after the airplane crash. And the actor cast in the role was Michael Keaton. But ABC told the producers that they shouldn’t kill off the hero so soon in the series and the script was changed. After the change, Michael Keaton backed out of the role because he did not want to commit to a regular series.